After a strong start, the Arlington Senior Babe Ruth age 14 baseball all-stars finished fourth in the 14-team World Series in Fredericksburg.
Arlington lost its final two (of six) playoff games by 1-0 and 8-0 scores, respectively.
Arlington finished 3-1 in pool play, winning its first and final two games, then went 3-3 in the playoff round. One of those playoff losses was to champion Orcutt, Calif., 1-0, which finished 7-0 in the series. Arlington had just two hits in the loss and Liam Finkel threw a 71-pitch complete game in defeat.
“Liam pitched well. We had a couple of situations to score in that game and I probably should have tried to do a couple of things, but I didn’t,” Arlington manager Dan Pototsky said.
Games were played at the Fredericksburg Nationals’ home Virginia Credit Union Stadium. Arlington qualified for the World Series by winning the state tournament and earning an automatic berth, since Virginia hosted the Series.
“This was a fun group of players who have played together for a long time,” Pototsky said. “The World Series was an unbelievable experience for them, and they played well. They got to play at a great stadium and the whole thing was run and set up so well.”
In addition to Finkel’s pitching, a number of other Arlington players had notable performances in the Series. Matt Langley had a game-winning fielder’s choice in a 2-1 pool-play victory and threw two scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts, with Reid Schwartz having two hits in the win.
Ryan Sullivan and Will Devens each had three hits, Finkel two, A.J. McCracken a double and RBI and Schwartz a hit and two RBI in an 11-8 win. Nicholas Socknat was the winning pitcher in relief, fanning three and allowing no earned runs.
Langley hurled a one-hitter, fanned eight and allowed no earned runs in a complete-game pool-play win over Aruba. Sullivan, McCracken and Ryan Cooney all had hits and RBI in the game.
In a 6-5 playoff victory over Stafford, Langley had three hits and four RBI; Cooney had three hits; Schwartz tripled and had two hits; Owen Quentin had two hits; and Finkel, Sullivan and Noah Petty had hits.
Socknat struck out five in the five innings he worked to get the win.
Brooks Clements worked five innings and fanned two in Arlington’s final game.
Sullivan threw out a runner at home in one of the games and Sam Niehaus was a contributor.
NOTES: Pototsky singled out his assistant coaches Charlie Clements, Sean Upton and Ryan Upton . . . During a pre-tournament contest, McCracken finished second in the home-run hitting derby. Also, Devens was named to the Babe Ruth 14s World Series all-defensive at first base. Langley was named to the World Series all-star team . . . In 2019, Pototsky managed the Arlington Senior Babe Ruth age 15 All-Stars who played in the World Series . . . Prior to the state tournament this season, the Arlington 14s won the two-team District 6 tourney with a 2-0 record.
